CHINA: A further 91 km section of the Yuxia high speed line was opened on December 26, with the start of revenue services between Changde and Yiyang.
Being laid out with a mix of 350 km/h and 200 km/h segments, the 1 611 km Yuxia corridor linking Chongqing with Xiamen is one of the eight east-west axes in the country’s ‘eight by eight’ grid of high speed lines.
Opening of the Changde – Yiyang section in Hunan province follows the start of services on the 63 km between Yiyang and Changsha Xi on September 6, and adds one more intermediate station at Hanshou. The fastest journey time for the 154 km between Changde and Changsha has been reduced to 59 min. China Railway is initially operating 59 trains/day over the new line.
Construction of the Changde – Changsha Xi segment of the Yuxia corridor was approved by the National Development & Reform Commission on December 18 2017, although work on the Changde – Yiyang section did not start until June 2019.
Other parts of the corridor yet to be completed include the 269 km between Chongqing and Qianjiang which is scheduled to open in 2025 and the 429 km Changsha – Ganzhou section expected to be completed by 2027. Both of these sections are being designed for 350 km/h operation.
